I THINK it is a crying shame that a school has to even think about erecting a giant spiked fence to keep out intruders.

I read with astonishment is last week's Citizen that a school in Accrington is planning to erect the fence on one side of its grounds as a security measure.

It is a sad indication of our times that pupils appear not to be safe from what lurks outside the school gates and such drastic measures have to be taken.

Obviously the death of London headteacher Philip Lawrence who was stabbed outside his school last year has made other schools across the country sit up and think.

We never want to see such incidents happening again but the days when you could pack your child off to school knowing they are going to be safe seem to be distant memories.

Mr Walker,

Blackburn Road,

Accrington.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.